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These are my thoughts and opinions on Fitness Training. If you disagree, make your own website and say yours! Fitness Training can be divided into two basic types - weight or resistance training and cardio training. So, where do I start.?? Hmm, I will start with weight training. Weight/Resistance Training can also be categorised in 2 basic types. Body Building and Weight Lifting Lets start with defining them. Body Building is doing something like Arnold Schwarzenegger used to do before his movie stardom. Body builders concentrate on building muscle size and shape. Generally all professional (and a lot of amateur) body builders use some sort of drug and/or supplements to help them gain their size. Arnold freely admits to using them during his training towards being My Olympia. Body builders are more concerned with how they look, their size and shape, rather than outright strength, as the contests they compete in require size and shape. Of course many of them are lifting very large weights, but new drugs can build size without strength. Weight Lifting is an Olympic Sport, and is all about strength. Although most weight lifters have large and well defined muscles, they have gained this via training to be strong, not for bulk. Many use drugs to enhance their performance as well, but the concentration is on strength and actual weight lifted, not on looks. Of course Olympic competition means no drugs but that never stopped Amateurs.. First thing you must decide is what are your goals.. If you want to be big like Arnold but dont care about strength, it is different training then if you go for outright strength and not care about size. Size comes with strength anyway, but not to the shape of body builders.. Let me say this, if you want size and looks like Arnold, you will need to take drugs to get it. It is a simple fact that men do not get that sort of body without drugs and supplements Now if your focus is more on strength, you need not take drugs to get it. Of course drugs will speed up your progress, but you can reach a high weight and strength the natural way. I do not care to look like Arnold or any other body builder, I train for strength and health. So performance enhancing drugs are completely off my list. How do I train? Simple really. I have spoken with many people, over many years, and noone agrees on any one way. New or Old School? This many Sets vs that many Reps. Blah blah blah. Enough to make even the most devout lifter just walk away. I arrived at a conclussion that is basically this: 1. Do compound Exercises as your main sets 2. Supplement the compound exercies with a few isloation exercises to get a pump 3. Do not overtrain, give your muscles plenty of rest in between workouts For those beginners: A Set is a number of Reps (repetitions) of a certain type of exercise. Eg; A barbell curl can be performed 10 times in a row without a break and that would be 10 reps. Do this again with breaks in between the lots of 10 reps and you have sets. Pretty straight forward. So what is so complex? Well, it is the amount of Sets/Reps that beckons all sorts of "wisdom" on what is right. Some say do low reps, high number of sets to build strength, while others say that builds bulk(size) and high reps/low sets build strength. Actually, any sort of Set/Rep combination will improve your size and strength. Personally I go for the 5 x 5 routine at the moment, maybe this might change over time. I also perform Hypertrophy Sets after my strength sets to get the pump I want. (Hypertrophy builds muscle, not strength where 5x5 builds strength primarily.) The key word in weight training should be CONSISTANT. Do it regularly and allow sufficient time for muscle recovery in between. I have found what works for me (at the moment), find what works for you. Everyone is slightly different although the 5 x5 compound exercises will do the same for all. Beginners (those who have not performed at least 6 months of a regular training workout) should stick to a beginner program designed to strengthen and condition your muscles. Very often these resemble Body builder workouts, however, without performance drugs you will only get so far with this type and eventually will not be able to increase your weights sufficiently to overcome barriers. Beginners should not attempt too much, too soon. Long term damage can be happening that you will not find out about until it is too late. The object is to strengthen the muscles not destroy them! So there are different stages to consider. Beginners (as mentioned), Intermediate (where you can realise longer term goals) and Advanced (for those who want to look like Mr Olympia or compete in the Olympics). Most of us just want to get to intermediate, and keep getting stronger or at least maintain strength as aging takes place. If you are starting out, read some books, browse the net (although carefully as there are more opinions than facts on the Internet) and maybe talk to a few training professonals (if you are ready to spend cash). If you are self motivated and disciplined, try beginning at a Gym as there will be professionals around to help get you started (especially selecting the correct weights). You can always do a 3 month membership at a gym until you get your confidence and strength. Just be careful about the self-discipline role in Gym-ing. You need to motivate yourself to go out and exercise (harder than just motivating yourself to picking up weights at home). Even if you have done weight training before, if you have not trained for at least 6 months you are back to being a beginner! Personally I like Bill Phillips "Body for Life" book (once you get past all the "you Can do It" motivational crap), for a good beginner program. It is a shaping bulk building program but suits beginners well enough for the first 6 months. After that, if you want strength look at 5 x5. I have no comment if you want looks only.. I like the "high intensity training" and the "push yourself" methods Bill puts forth. Like anything in life, Fitness Training requires you to train your mind as well. You need the motivation to start, but more importantly you must consider the following: Self Drive - You need to push yourself to start, to keep going and to succeed. Nothing comes without effort, especially mental effort Routine - Get yourself into the habit of exercise, this takes huge effort to begin with but once you have the fitness habit (say after 3-4 months of constant training), it is a craving that is healthy Never Accept Defeat - Even if you miss several workouts, maybe due to injury or just schedule, hurry back into your routine as fast as possible. Never give up because you feel you have missed too many sessions. Your mental discipline will develop along with your fitness... The more you are physically disciplined, the more it builds your confidence and ability to achieve more both physically and mentally. Well, I could write volumes on weight training (my opinions), and I have not really gone that much into my routine, but I made my routine custom for myself at my level, just as you should too. (or get a pro to write one for you).. Besides, my routine could change at a moments notice (when I learn or try something new or dfferent). Consider an intermediate weight training routine as a flexible toolmap, one that can be changed to suit the current goals..The weights are the tools, but we need to map out how we are going to use them..

So...on to another contraversial subject - Cardio Training. Some say that the best fitness training comprises equal amounts of Cardio and Weight training, and I tend to agree with that lot, however it is not that easy. Sometimes you need to rest in between routines and doing HIIT or some other cardio can disrupt muscle growth. Again it is about goals but everyone can benefit from just a little cardio I do weights often and one day of cardio a week, however just a few months ago I was doing cardio every other day. My goals changed, and so I am in a peiod of strength building, whch means backing off the cardio a little. Once my strength goals are met, I will reintroduce more cardio. So what do really I think of Cardio? Well, to begin with you do not need any equipment, just simple jogging can be beneficial. Running is an ages old method of shedding weight, getting fitter and generally feeling better. Of course all the so called experts will talk of bad knees, road shock, etc etc but really, man has been running for the last 100,000 years or so, it cannot be all that bad for you! Like everything, the correct approach will save injury, time and maximise results. There are all sorts of exercises and all sorts of approaches, read, listen and make up your own mind which is suitable for you. I use Cardio machines, a treadmill (yes old fashioned but very very good) and I also use a Cross-trainer (X-trainer). I find varying between both machines very intensive and it gets results. I feel lucky to have both machines, and I must say that the harder workout is on the X-Trainer. I still prefer the treadmill - good old fashioned running just makes me happy. Be careful! Cardio is essential but you need to build into it slowly if you are starting out. If you feel overweight and have not exercised for the previous 12 months, doing aerobic or performance styled exercise may lead to a heart attack instead of fitness. You will have to build up to that sort of sustained cardio training, and I dont mean you have to shed kilos, you have to build your fitness level. Do this by starting out easy, walking for 5 minutes then running 5, walk again, run again etc. After a few weeks of this you can increase your time running (or doing whatever exercise you exert yourself at). Do a warmup and warm down, these are essential in easing stress on your system. As for recommended weight, I believe it to be in the same garbage bin as recommended body mass, fat levels and body shape. We are not all alike, and we do not all have the shape of Arnold or the latest fashion model in that sports magazine. We are not meant to all look the same, so be happy with being the best of what you can, your fitness goals should be to get as fit as you want, as strong as you can be and the shape will come naturally. Beware of people talking about achieving a certain look, that look is just fashion, but ultimately your genes will dictate what your final body shape will be, unless you get it grossly wrong. Suffice to say that all of us are not meant to carry excess fat to the point of physical detriment, but we are not all meant to be shaped like Mr or Miss Universe either. Some are naturally lean or naturally stocky. It is best for you to be what is natural to your body shape, and regular fitness exercise will reveal that shape to you over time. If I were to chose between Cardio and Weight training, I would not. I think they are both branches of the same tree. A tree needs to be balanced. Modern life has taken away our natural muscle building and toning activities, and we need to keep our muscles toned! They help burn fat among other things! We also need to keep our cardio system healthy. It is amazing how many health problems are avoidable through regular exercise. I love my Cardio workouts but I have to push myself to do them at the level I set. Sometimes I just want to stop and rest, but I get past these little hickups during the routine and at the end feel stronger and more confident in that I pushed through the barriers. Cardio is like any fitness regime. Do it regular, have a set routine and push yourself mentally and physically to achieve your goals... Just remember to start out easy and build upon your successes. Don't try and become a super athlete when you are beginning!

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